Park Board Special Meeting. July 26, 2014

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Eleanore West
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1 Park Board Special Meeting July 26, 2014

2 A review of the Vancouver Aquarium s current operations pertaining to cetaceans with comparison to other aquariums Joseph K. Gaydos, VMD, PhD and Sarah Bahan, MESc SeaDoc Society Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Orcas Island Office

3 Scope of Review Overview of aquariums around the world Review legislation and trends Comparison of a subset of North American aquariums to the Vancouver Aquarium Accreditation Annual visitors Stranding and response Veterinary care Research Ethics and morals of keeping captive cetaceans are not addressed 4

4 General profile of aquariums around the world Methodology Research Analyst from the City of Vancouver Additional electronic research Results 608 aquariums in 79 countries are open to the public worldwide Identified which had cetaceans or did not 5

5 100% Numbers of aquariums around the world with and without cetaceans 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% % unknown % without % with cetaceans 10% 0% Continent (number of aquariums identified) 6

6 Review of cetacean-specific legislation worldwide Relied upon primary sources such as legislation and, only in rare cases, reputable national news sources Identified 7 countries, 1 US state, 1 US county Asia (n=1), Europe (n=4), North America (n=1 state, n=1 county), South & Central America (n=2) Numerous websites and reports found that list from 10 to 15 countries with legislation. We could not validate this many 7

7 Review of cetacean-specific legislation worldwide Problematic Examples: Hungary no primary source found Greece (Animal Welfare Law 4039/2012) Legislation prohibits animals in circuses Bolivia Ban on circuses, not cetaceans Solomon Islands Banned export in 2005, revoked in

8 Countries with laws banning cetacean importation, capture, captivity, or display 9

9 Accrediting or guiding agencies Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums - Aquariums et Zoos Accrédités du Canada (CAZA-AZAC) Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA) World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) US Department of Agriculture s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (USDA / APHIS) 10

10 Comparing Vancouver to similarly sized aquariums in North America 34 zoos and aquariums compared to Vancouver 29 had 750,000 visitors in with no data on visitors included because of similar size 1 lower outlier included (Gulf World, FL with 175,000 visitors) 1 upper outlier included (SeaWorld-all parks, > 20 Mill. Visitors) 9 institutions provided complete data requested 11

11 Comparing Vancouver to similar sized aquariums in North America Accreditation 91% (31/35) are AZA accredited 26% (9/35) are AAMPA accredited 100% (4/4) of Canadian facilities CAZA accredited 12

12 Comparing Vancouver to similar sized aquariums in North America Of the 35 institutions (including Vancouver), 12 of 35 (34%) maintain cetaceans in captivity Facilities with cetaceans (n=12) 75% (9/12) are AZA accredited 58% (7/12) are AAMPA accredited Facilities without cetaceans (n=23) 91% (21/23) are AZA accredited 9% (2/23) are AAMPA accredited 13

13 Comparing Vancouver to similar sized aquariums in North America Annual Visitors Facilities with cetaceans (2 outliers excluded) 1.5 million visitors average in 2013 Facilities without cetaceans 1.3 million visitors average in 2013 Note: Aquariums (not zoos with aquariums) without cetaceans and over 1 million visitors include: New England Aquarium (1.3M), Aquarium of the Pacific (1.5M), and Monterey Bay Aquarium (1.9M) 14

14 Cetacean stranding response and rehabilitation Facilities with cetaceans 100% have cetacean stranding response Facilities without cetaceans 40% have cetacean stranding response Note: Aquariums without captive cetaceans are unable to provide longterm care for stranded cetaceans unless they have net pen or other facilities and likely could not or would not provide life-long housing for non-releasable cetaceans 15

15 Veterinary Care Facilities with cetaceans (excluding outliers) 1.75 full time veterinarians (average; n=4) Facilities without cetaceans 2.6 full time veterinarians (average; n=5) 16

16 Cetacean Research Facilities with cetaceans Published on cetaceans more than those without Peer-reviewed publications ranged: 6 Gulf World 17+ Biodome de Montreal 28 New England 32 Vancouver 84 Shedd 150 SeaWorld Facilities without cetaceans 3 reported Not Applicable to this question 17

17 Peer-reviewed Cetacean Research at the Vancouver Aquarium Research on captive cetaceans 20 peer-reviewed papers, including MS theses and PhD dissertations ( ) 75% (15/20) have implications for free-ranging cetacean management and conservation Research on free-ranging cetaceans 12 peer-reviewed papers, including MS theses and PhD dissertations ( ) 25% relied on some data from captive cetaceans 18

18 Cetacean species in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium Belugas 6 facilities in North American keep 79 animals Vancouver Aquarium has 9 2 on site 2 at Georgia Aquarium 5 at SeaWorld Parks 19

Cetacean species in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium Pacific white-sided dolphins 4 facilities in North American keep 18 animals Vancouver

19 Cetacean species in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium Pacific white-sided dolphins 4 facilities in North American keep 18 animals Vancouver Aquarium has 2 rescued animals from Japan (entrapped in fishing nets) Other facilities: Miami Seaquarium SeaWorld (all locations) Shedd Aquarium 20

20 Cetacean species in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium Harbor Porpoise Phtoto Credit: AVampireTear 1 facility in North America (Vancouver) keeps 2 animals that were stranded locally Other facilities: 6 at Dolfinarium/SOS Dolfigin Harderwijk (Netherlands) 3 at Fjord & Belt (Denmark) 21

22 Cetacean breeding at the Vancouver Aquarium AZA Marine Mammal Taxon Advisory Group guides beluga breeding to maintain genetic diversity No breeding oversight for Pacific white-sided dolphins or harbor porpoises due to limited numbers in captivity in North America Have done some preliminary work on artificial insemination, but all breeding attempts have been done by pairing likely individuals Breeding loans oversee animals sent to other institutions and detail ownership of future offspring 23

23 Consideration #1 Large-scale cetacean welfare study Standards for accreditation do not address ethics of captivity A large-scale, 3-year study is being completed on captive elephants in North America A similar North America wide cetacean study should be considered 24

Consideration #2 Complete public disclosure of information Vancouver has shared all requested information freely Not all facilities have been this willing to

24 Consideration #2 Complete public disclosure of information Vancouver has shared all requested information freely Not all facilities have been this willing to share Requiring the Aquarium to share an annual State of the Cetaceans report will facilitate oversight and public dialogue and will set an industry precedent 25

25 Questions? 26

The use of dolphins in captivity in the EU and developments towards sea refuges for stranded and captive dolphins.

The use of dolphins in captivity in the EU and developments towards sea refuges for stranded and captive dolphins GAIA ANGELINI-HEAD WILD ANIMALS AREA g.angelini@lav.it 14 MS with dolphinaria: Belgium,